Funeral home viewings are cauldrons of conflicting emotions, with sadness at the parting from this world by the guest of honor mixing with warm remembrances and shared stories.
So it was Friday afternoon at the first viewing session for Paul Litwalk, onetime teacher and basketball coach at Johnstown High School, who also was prominent in the community.
Former coaches, players, media members and a host of friends and acquaintances milled about, each paying respect to the former coach in his or her own way. Often was heard that, while it was nice to see people again, it was unfortunate it had to come under such circumstances.
Paul was remembered for his many endearing qualities. However, when the talk turned to the current state of sports, of the world in general, the sentiment was generally negative.
To be my age – 68 and counting toward 69 – is to understand that observations of things in the present being less than rosy tend to be dismissed as the ravings of someone stuck in a self-reinforcing nostalgia loop.
‘Tis true at times, I guess. At other times, it is unpleasant reality.
I can only imagine ancient Romans gathering for a fellow citizen’s funeral late in that great empire’s run and observing things on the decline, only to be branded as nostalgic fools.
Granted, they would have been told, those barbarians up north are advancing. Our currency is virtually worthless. Our once-feared military is a shell of its former self. Political corruption is rife. But we still have bread and circuses!
Sort of sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Clueless Joe says anyone thinking things are less than great is confused – this from a guy who has a master’s in confusion.
Oh, and our current invasion in the U.S. mostly is coming from the south, at the behest of the current regime. Other than that, lots of similarities are evident to me.
As for those ancient Romans, no doubt many dismissed their observations as the misguided fruit of naysayers and predictors of doom. History tells a different story.
In a more recent example from sports, those of us fortunate enough to cover the Pittsburgh Steelers during their dominance of the 1970s recognized at the end of the decade that we had witnessed an era the franchise, or any other, was not likely to duplicate.
It can be argued that New England achieved similar status and Kansas City is attempting to do so currently. But those 1970s Steelers won four Super Bowls in six seasons and had arguably their best team denied a shot when injuries stripped the starting backfield from the lineup in 1976.
They were a different animal. Period.
Like the Steelers, our country has moments of greatness, but can’t quite make it back to the glory days.
Deaths of individuals are metaphorical reminders that empires also come with expiration dates. Noting a decline of same into that date does not make one a nostalgic nincompoop.
Sam Ross Jr's site 